Ahead of the release of Ballerina, Winston legend Ian McShane has revealed a subtle clue at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4 that Keanu Reeves’ Baba Yaga is still alive and kicking.
For the record, we now know that the deadly assassin definitely didn’t die, not least because he’ll be returning for another outing in John Wick 5, which is currently in development.
But even when this was up for debate, there were plenty of clues to indicate that Wick didn’t bite the dust during his duel with Caine in the fourth chapter. Namely, we never actually see him die on screen, and in action movie world, no body means no death.
Dexerto caught up with McShane to talk Ballerina, but he also opened up about his hopes for John Wick 5 and the Winston scene that hints at what we already know.
Ian McShane opens up about the cryptic John Wick farewell
“Nobody really believes he died [in John Wick 4],” McShane told us, before pointing to the final scene, in which Winston and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) stand at Wick’s gravestone.
“I mean, I put my hand in the coffin and said in Russian, ‘Dosvidaniya moy syn,’ which is, ‘Goodbye, my son,’ but with a little smile between me and Laurence Fishburne, thinking, ‘Is he in the coffin?’ Who knows what’s in there?”
While most focus on Wick’s dog running in excitement to something (or someone) off screen, this little smile between the two characters seems to suggest they both know he’s not really dead – he just had to escape the wrath of the High Table.
And if anyone can do it, it’s John Wick. But we’ll have to wait for Chapter 5 to find out exactly what happened to him after the duel.
Until then, Ballerina is heading to cinemas, with Ana de Armas taking on the role of Eve, a ballerina assassin raised by the same Ruska Roma syndicate that molded Wick himself.
Although they’re cut from the same cloth, director Len Wiseman told Dexerto that Eve still has a way to go before being close to the same level as the Boogeyman.
“I think in time. She’s got a ways to go. I mean, John Wick is the legend for a reason, so we’ll see,” Wiseman explained. “He’s been through it to get there, so she would have to earn it.”
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